


Love Me - I Dare You

by fullofimber



Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: F/F, Fluff, glorified drabble, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 02:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18863569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullofimber/pseuds/fullofimber
Summary: Matsuri pushes; Nene pushes back.





	Love Me - I Dare You

"Hm. Okay." Matsuri groped blindly for the popcorn bowl that lay between her and Nene, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. She took a piece from her new handful and chewed it. "What about Ms. Tanaka, then?"

Nene stretched her arms above her head, letting out a thoughtful and soft sigh. "She's cute, I guess. I just don't think she's my type."

"Mhm." Matsuri swallowed another piece of popcorn. "Okay then - how about Harumi's sister?"

At the thought, Nene covered her face with her hands, choked by a sound somewhere between a giggle and a moan.

"Oh, come on. I know that sound. You can't say you haven't thought about it-"

"She's _scary_ , Matsuri." She lay where she was, giggling weakly, and kicked her legs out straight as her hands slid down over her mouth. "I can't like a girl that scares me, can I?"

Matsuri cocked an eyebrow and waited for Nene to look over. When she did, the younger girl drew towards her, her hand warm on the back of Nene's neck.

"Do I not scare you, then?"

Matsuri knew well, by now, how Nene moved; she had noted the tenseness that sparked, seemingly involuntary, at every touch. It was the kind of thing that made her cautious, that made her stomach sink and her hands still, and, yet, Nene drew ever closer through it, and, whether or not she did so in so many words, she always asked for more.

It was thus, head to head with Nene, that Matsuri grinned her brightest and cockiest grin.

"I think you _like_ being scared, Nene, and you don't even know it."

Nene sighed a little, returning the smile. "Yeah. Well." She took another breath, considering her next words. "Let's just say, you're not quite Mitsuko-scary."

Matsuri cocked her eyebrow again, and smiled a new, sharp smile which always seemed to send a distinct thrill into Nene's stomach.

"That's news to me."

It took Nene a minute to gain composure. "You've about half a foot between you, genius. How can I be scared of a girl that's shorter than me?"

"Well, you tell me, Ne-chan." Matsuri's smile had not abated, and was threatening as ever as she reached out to wind her fingers into a lock of Nene's dark hair. "You've clearly been scared of me in the past."

Nene's eyes were closed, though it was hard for Matsuri to pinpoint whether her avoidance came from fear or a mere sense of the bit wearing thin. "It's hard to fear a girl once you've had your tongue in her mouth," she said, her voice as flat as she could make it, "and that's that." She opened her eyes to smile, again, at the other girl, before she shifted slightly to plant a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry if that hurts your ego, Matsuri-chan."

At this, Matsuri bit down on her lip, sitting with her eyes closed for a second. When she opened them again she was met with Nene's gaze, as sweet as it was provoking.

"Alright then." She wet her lips. "How do you feel about a test of courage?"

Nene narrowed her eyes. "In Tokyo? You wanna get stabbed in an alley? I don't."

"There was no need to take it so literally, Ne-chan." Matsuri tutted lightly before she paused again, stroking Nene's hair with her thumb. "I meant 'test of courage' in a more spiritual sense. Testing you with all the things that used to make you freak."

"Mhm." Nene took a quick breath. Matsuri was light, gleeful already in anticipation of getting her way and gloating later. "I'm down, then. Just as long as I'm not the only one being tested."

"Okay." This was a hitch in her plan, but, in all honesty, it was a hitch that Matsuri knew she could hardly have expected to evade. It didn't really matter. She was confident. After all, she wouldn't have to go all-out, just far enough to make Nene eat her words. That would be easy.

"First dare, then," Matsuri whispered. "You've gotta kiss me."

"Easy."

And it was, at least by now. The ease of it all, in fact, kind of threw Matsuri off; while she'd hardly been expecting Nene to refuse, she was used to her breath shaking a little, to her light and tentative movements, rather than the smooth ones she was making now. Whatever. It was a decent barometer, and Matsuri was grateful for the warning. Since Nene wasn't playing, it was clear that she couldn't either.

Deft in avoidance of the popcorn bowl, Matsuri hauled herself up and over Nene, and came down with a soft thump on top of her.

"Call time when you're ready," she whispered, tipping Nene's face up by the chin. The other girl stared back, her expression carefully stoic, though the heat in her face and the throb of her pulse were tells she struggled to keep at bay. "Let's see how brave you really are."

Nene said nothing. Instead, she cracked a smile, as small and as goading as her last.

Though she'd forced Matsuri to initiate again, Nene was far from passive once she'd done so. Matsuri couldn't quite put her finger on _what_ she was doing exactly - whether she was just pulling closer than she usually did, or pressing harder than she normally would - but something felt different, and she wasn't actually sure if she liked it.

As Matsuri wavered a little, Nene continued, leading with her tongue. Her kisses were sharp, almost, and demanding. This was silly, Matsuri told herself. She took a quick breath and shut her eyes again. If she would only get a hold of herself she could easily gain the upper hand.

When Nene reached up to touch Matsuri, she saw her chance and took it. Seizing suddenly upon the other girl's wrist, she eased it down, pinning it perhaps six inches left of Nene's head.

The kiss broke. Nene turned her head, taking three or four loud, shallow breaths. A triumphant grin had barely crested Matsuri's mouth before Nene, her free hand secure in Matsuri's hair, met her lips again.

Immediate panic flowered in Matsuri's stomach, and her feeling cast itself into a stark and sudden shape.

Was Nene too afraid to stop?

Her every movement felt stone-faced and resolute, and her touch seemed to lack its usual tenderness. Fear had crawled like an itch into the back of Matsuri's mind, but, once voiced, it spread, solidified, and grew. Her panic was strange - silly - pathetic - she hated it - but it was a bad feeling, and Matsuri didn't kiss people to feel bad feelings.

The youngest girl pulled upwards, releasing her hold on Nene's wrist, though her partner only took that as an excuse to wrap the freed arm around Matsuri's neck. With the heel of her hand Matsuri pushed gently down on Nene's collar, and, once she had air enough to breathe, said, "Hey - alright - that's time, okay?"

"Hm?"Nene was dopey as she finally opened her eyes again. When the situation registered with her, however, concern spread quickly over her face. "What's wrong, Matsuri?"

"I-" Matsuri took a shallow breath, glancing off to her left. Nene didn't seem angry with her - she was just like normal, sweet and inexplicably loving. Matsuri laughed a low and hollow laugh to herself. "I figured you'd had enough, that's all."

Nene narrowed her eyes a little, reaching to wrap both arms around Matsuri's neck. As she spoke again, her voice thrummed with warm bravado, and Matsuri clenched her jaw. "I thought _I_ had to call time, though?"

"Think of it as me doing you a favour," Matsuri said, struggling to match Nene's tone, "seeing as I'm so fond of you."

"That's sweet of you." Her smile, again, was small, goading, and smug. "It wasn't fair, though. I didn't give up. You'd better let the record show it."

"I just figured you'd like it better if the record didn't show you up and embarrassing yourself-"

"Look, Matsuri." It was not the first time Nene had tried to sound authoritative, but, to the faint amazement of the both of them, it was the first time it had really worked. Nene was kind of at a loss, but she knew she couldn't blow her chance to defuse Matsuri's mood before it started. "Something's wrong. Just tell me."

"I-" Matsuri frowned at the carpet above Nene's head, before she sighed finally, shaking her head and making a sudden attempt to extricate herself. "It's okay, Nene. Please. Don't worry about it."

"Hey, no, you can't go yet -" Matsuri stilled in her efforts to leave, but did nothing else. When Nene spoke again her voice was low, wan and fearful, seemingly, of itself. "Test of courage, remember?" she eventually whispered. "I didn't get to test you."

Matsuri groaned a little, a low and deep sound that sounded kind of like a growl, but she didn't pull away. Nene was right, after all.

"What should I do, then?"

Nene drew close in toward Matsuri. Tightening her hold around the younger girl's neck, Nene tipped the two of them up into a sitting position, and, her mouth close to Matsuri's, finally delivered her dare.

"I want you to tell me what was wrong."

She groaned again, laying all her weight against Nene. Her arms dropped to her sides, and she sat, sullen, with her head against the other girl's shoulder.

"I was worried." She spoke into Nene's t-shirt; the words were hard to make out, though, through the breeze and rustle of trees in flower, they were audible. Matsuri was quiet again, solid and still; Nene, convinced that that was all she'd be getting, closed her arms around Matsuri's shoulders when she heard the muffled voice rise again. "I was worried you didn't want to do it. Like you were doing it because you had to, or I was forcing you."

Matsuri expected a laugh; she braced for it, setting her jaw, though nothing came but Nene's voice.

"What made you think that?"

"I dunno." Her speech was low, mumbled and rushed. "You just didn't feel like you normally feel."

Nene smiled a little at this; Matsuri felt a light giggle, though it didn't hurt as much as she'd anticipated. The two were still pressed close, and Nene had worked one hand up into her partner's hair. Matsuri felt this old and awful warmth rising in her chest; as she listened for Nene's breath, she briefly held her own, and closed her eyes.

"Can I ask another question?"

"Mm."

Nene paused, separating out a few locks of Matsuri's hair.

"Why didn't you try to mess with me?"

A slight laugh burst from Matsuri's chest. "What do you mean?"

"Well. You didn't have to tell me the truth."

"Oh." Matsuri paused for a second, and took a deep breath. "It isn't fun to mess with you. It's like kicking a puppy; you don't push back, you just look hurt."

Nene was quiet for a second or so, and Matsuri felt great pressure to fill the silence.

"I guess that was a little too truthful, right?"

Another small silence followed before Nene delivered a considered reply. "No. I - I wouldn't put it that way." She pulled back a little and, when she saw Matsuri, smiled again. "It's just a strange way to say you care about me."

In an instant, Matsuri flushed pink.

"Y - I - If you wanted me to lie, you should have told me, I'd -"

"I didn't want you to lie, Matsuri."

Nene pulled her in, squeezing tight by way of reassurance, and Matsuri jumped at the opportunity to push her face, again, into Nene's shoulder. She made another sullen 'hmph' sound, but cleaved still-closer to her partner, and was once more indistinct as she mumbled her next sentence.

"Do I really scare you?"

The candour seemed to throw Nene off; she took a breath before answering. "Uhm. Maybe a little."

"Oh." A little while ago, this would have been a victory. As it was, however, Matsuri couldn't feel anything but a vague sense of remorse. "That's kind of bad, right?"

Nene shrugged. "Maybe." She took another second to swallow. "It feels like a good kind of scared, usually. Like a rollercoaster kind of scared. Or a Resident Evil kind of scared."

The two sat quiet again for another little while. In time, Matsuri felt a tap on her shoulder, at which she stirred.

"Hm?"

"I want to ask one last question."

Matsuri let out a mock groan, squeezing her arms around Nene's waist. "I'll let you. If you're sure it's the last."

"I'm sure."

"Okay."

Matsuri drew one finger lightly up and down her partner's shoulder; she kept her movement steady and unbroken, even as the last question came.

"How do I make you feel, Matsuri-san?"

The younger girl took a deep breath through her chest. She wondered if this was the time for rhapsody; a sudden fear flared inside her, that Nene might want poetry, or some extravagant confession, and, at this concept alone, her mind went blank.

"Being with you is like being in bed."

Nene choked a small laugh; in an effort to reassure her, Matsuri giggled a little too, and, when she spoke, wore a smile that lived warm in her chest.

"You feel safe."

 


End file.
